BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — Amy and Patrick Moore’s “mission in life” after their son U.S. Army Spc. Benjamin was killed in Afghanistan in 2011 has been honoring him and the millions of others lost in battle with an Honor and Remember flag flying in as many locations as possible, they said.

Today marked their latest success as they, along with Bordentown Elks member Jack Becker, hoisted the red, white and gold flag up a staff outside the Bordentown Elks 2085 lodge on Amboy Road as more than 50 attendees stood watching.

“It’s a beautiful sight and a beautiful remembrance. It is our mission to get this flag visible,” Amy Moore said, looking up at the flag beating in the breeze below the American and POW/MIA flags. “We’ll go to whatever lengths we need to to get it visible because it is history in the making.”

The Honor and Remember flag, featuring a gold star and flame design in the center with additional patriotic elements, waved high on the staff following a ceremony attended by Elk members, town officials and the motorcycle group Rolling Thunder, of which the Moores are members.

From left to right: Bordentown Elks member Jack Becker hoists an Honor and Remember up a staff outside the Bordentown Elks 2085 lodge on Amboy Road with Amy and Patrick Moore.Nicole Mulvaney/The Times of Trenton

“Today we honor and remember all our fallen soldiers, the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service for our country,” said Sharon Sharpe, secretary of the Elks’ veteran’s committee.

But the flag has been under fire by the Bordentown City Veterans Memorial Committee.
After a year of back-and-forth objecting to the Moore family’s request to fly it over the memorial at Farnsworth and Railroad avenues, the committee made its final decision early last month not to fly it, citing flag code violations and a host of other concerns.

Despite the scrutiny over its symbolic representation, town officials hoisted one flag on a flagpole outside the Carslake Community Center in Bordentown, and another flies at Veterans Park in Hamilton.

George Lutz, who founded Honor and Remember Inc. following the 2005 death of his son in Iraq, said last month the controversy surrounding the veteran memorial committee’s decision is the first of its kind.

The Moores sent the Elks committee a letter in December, requesting the flag be flown at the lodge, they said.

“We got it back in the winter time, and we all decided absolutely to wait until spring, until we have a nice day so you can actually enjoy the weather,” Sharpe said.

Though one of the objections surrounding the flag is that it is not yet federally recognized, it has been approved in 19 states, including New Jersey, and is endorsed or in the approval process in the remaining 31 states.

Deputy Mayor James Lynch, who has thrown his support behind the Honor and Remember flag by urging the Bordentown City Veterans Memorial Committee to reconsider its decision, said he was proud to be part of today’s occasion.

“It can be troubling at times; sometimes we have to fight for things. There’s two sides to every issue, but doesn’t that flag look good?” Lynch said, directing his attention to the flag flapping overhead. “This flag, if you’re educated, you can understand it. It means something. It represents something to everybody.”